Dreams and Goals January 13

 I am happy to report that I actually got lots of things done on my project list from last week!

I didn't get into the sewing room much at all because Mom {who turns 90 in a week} was visiting and she brought a nasty cold, possibly pneumonia, with her and it made her confused and unsteady on her feet. So I didn't feel that I could leave her for long.

So, I sat in the living room a lot with her, dispensed her meds and herbal teas, and did handwork.

 I finished my knit washcloth...

This is about all the knitting I seem to be able to do. 😑

...worked at getting caught up on Melisa's Stitch-along, but I'm quite far behind...

...and after she was well enough to go back to her new home at my brother & sis-in-law's, I did the hard work of drawing in all the lines on my old Everyday Embroidery project.

It took a lot of bending over, figuring out where I was in the plan, and calculating how to make it all fit on the fabric. As it is, I'm going to end up having to make a very narrow hem at the bottom. I think I'll survive.

So, now I want to get all the lines embroidered on before I start in on the designs in the blocks. That will be pretty mindless and I'll be able to watch some Youtube or TV while doing it. I also want to relisten to our pastor's sermon from Sunday because it was so encouraging and helpful in living a grace-filled life, as usual.

Some other projects have been dehydrating some apple which we enjoy snacking on or putting in granola, 

collecting quail eggs and getting the incubator started for more meat birds, sending six birds to freezer camp {which I did not photograph - you're welcome},

and prepping more eggs for sale. Aren't the little eggs and carton so cute?!

So, now fortified with a new order arrival of Literary Teas from Simpson and Vail Tea, I can set my new goals.

The Doyle tea is a new {and very tasty} one for me, but the rest are refills.

New Goals

In the sewing room

* Continue cutting scraps as I refill the woodstove by the sewing room & hopefully other times

* White block framing borders on diamond quilt for grandbaby

In the embroidery/cross-stitch basket

* Do the lines on Everyday Embroidery

* Finish frame for PinkernPunkin SAL

* Hopefully do first block/stamp on SAL

* Trace Jennifer's BOM onto fabric for embroidering & continue cutting needed fabrics

In the crochet basket

* Keep working on baby sweater for Pregnancy Care Center

On the homestead

* Attach a quail feeder to new grow-out cage

* Get the brooder ready for new chicks

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

New Year Goals

Now that I've had time to think about the new year {in a way today feels like New Year's Day for me since I've been too busy with Mom's care to do much thinking about it}, these are some things that I hope to implement this year.

* Read through the New Testament Gospels four times, in a different translation each time. Since there are 89 chapters in all, this fits quite well into a year leaving some wiggle room. I made myself a chart to keep myself on track. It's not fancy because I'm not a techie, but it does the job. I'm also continuing to read a Psalm a day and will no doubt keep on with specific Bible studies as they come along.

* Actually make use of the elliptical that's taking up space in the basement. I started slowly today and enjoyed listening to a P.G. Wodehouse novel. 

* Try to draw, even if it's just a little thing, every weekday because I really want to learn that skill. {And I just heard Barbara O'Neill say that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. 😄} So far I've done some drawing, but not daily. An artist friend loaned me her watercolor pencils, so I'm experimenting with them {the lettering} and enjoying trying things.

* I really want to make a whole lot more quilt tops to donate and hopefully learn to quilt them myself on my machine. I'm wanting to use my fabric stash in a useful way and thus declutter, too. Same with my yarn stash.

So, I'm off to get at some of this {after I figure out a healthy snack 😊}. 

May your week be full of beauty and flashes of joy!

Dreams and Projects

After a lovely vacation Christmas with some of our kids and grandkids in the warmer climate of Pennsylvania, a tour of George Washington's boyhood home on the Potomac, and yondering in southern West Virginia, 

we're home to snow, snow, and more snow.

Mom is with us for awhile and got rather sick with a nasty cold, so I've been tending her and haven't really had time for sewing yet. But she's doing better now, so I hope I can spend a little time downstairs in the sewing room. That's somewhat dependent upon how well Lovey is doing, too, since he caught the nasties.

So, here are the tentative goals for this week:

In the sewing room

* Sew as many white borders as possible on diamond blocks for this baby quilt for granddaughter due in February:

* Do a hopeful 20 minutes per sewing session of taming the scrap piles

In the knitting basket

* Finish the current dishcloth (for myself)

In the embroidery box

* Prep fabrics for Jennifer Reynolds' Sewing Room BOM & trace pattern

* Maybe even finally draw the lines on the old Everyday Embroidery that has been in the goal planning so many times but sadly neglected. 

For the Home

* Get back to using a menu

* Start little-by-little decluttering and dusting in bedroom

On the Homestead

* Collect quail eggs for incubation

* Attach feeder to new quail grow-out cage

* Maybe send some quails to freezer camp

This may be an overly ambitious list, but "nothing ventured, nothing gained." So, I'm off to see what I can do.

Have a beautiful week!

Christmas Projects, Snow, and Simple Goals

 After a little break, I'm back to report on some project progress, share my upcoming crafting plans, and wish you all a very merry Christmas!

My biggest project lately was making Christmas tree doorknob hangers for my kids' gifts and discovered that money does grow on trees! 😁

The lined and batted blocks start at 8" square, then go down to 7", 6", 5", 4", and 3". The tree trunk is a cheap ruler covered in fabric and hot-glued on to give stability. The squares are folded about a third of the way up, glued, and a little decoration also glued on. Then a ribbon hanger is attached. I might make myself one now that I have the time.

These clothespin dolls are part of what our gift to our 3yo granddaughter. I put them and some other little things in a Hello Kitty lunchbox I found at Hobby Lobby. I hope she has fun with them. {Note: the tips of the pipe cleaner need to be folded back so they're not too pokey.}

My friend and I also had a fun crafting and jabbering day recently while we worked at covering styrofoam Christmas tree shapes.

The tree on the right is covered with yo-yos of various sizes and topped with an "angel" made of hymnal music, an ornament ball head, and ribbon wings. The torn strip fabrics tree was the one I worked on this time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I don't have a lot planned for this week since I'll be making cheese to take to some of our kids that we're visiting next week as well as getting other stuff ready for the 14-hour drive. So, here's my simple goal list:

On the hook:

* Navy blue baby afghan for pregnancy care center. This will come in the car with me.

On the design wall:

* The diamond block baby quilt I cut out and started ages ago, now planned for new granddaughter coming in February

In the sketchbook:

* Keep teaching myself to draw by doing a little sketch every day

* Keep experimenting with watercolor pencils

In the hoop:

* Draw the lines for finishing Everyday Embroidery (yeah, I know I've really neglected it)

At the desk:

* Finish making pages for my personalized planner & maybe even get into the "big city" to get it spiral bound at Staples

On the homestead:

* Clean the animal quarters and write up instructions for nephew's family to care for animals

* Keep rejoicing in the growth of the quail flock and more eggs

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We've been hit with a LOT of snow in a relatively short time, so I'll leave you to enjoy some pictures of northern Michigan winter...

May your Christmas be filled with the joy and peace that Jesus came to bring, no matter your circumstances.

💖

Adventures and Plans - November 5

Adventures

As usual, lots has been happening around here, though I won't describe the cleaning of the rabbitry and quailery. Nobody needs that, though the animals and I appreciate having it done.

Lovey and I took advantage of being able to vote on a Saturday because his work schedule wouldn't otherwise have enabled him to vote. So we're thankful for the early voting option.

I've continued to make jams, jelly, and apple butter for the upcoming craft fair.

On my semi-plan from last post, I'd hoped to work on Scrappy Spools when my friend came for a crafting day, but I'm blaming her for side-tracking me into a new project. 😉 We had both previously bought the following book, and decided to start a small something from it.

She started cutting tiny pieces to make leaves on a tree, while I went simplistic and started with these:

In my defense, she'd done this before and this was my first time. 

I got a kick out of making the lighthouse light with this bicycle wheel from fabric I'd used for a dress.

So, now I need to do the topstitching/quilting on each 8"x10" piece and then frame them.

I also got to make three more crocheted pumpkins and sneakily left them on my sister-in-law's side table while I was at her house this weekend. 😇

Another project on which I work while watching TV or Youtube is these cross-stitch ornaments for the craft fair. They're involving more time than I thought they would, so I'm happy that I'm kinda multi-tasking to make them.

Yesterday the quail eggs from the incubator went into "lockdown" which is when the eggs are no longer tipped every two hours, but are laid down and left alone and the incubator humidity is raised to enable hatching. So, some might start hatching by tonight or tomorrow. It's an exciting time.

I now have five reliably laying quail hens with seven more that should start laying in about three weeks. It's fun to see my flock growing and I hope to be able to start selling eggs by the first of the year or sooner.

Plans

Happily making use of Joy's free planning page, these are my hopes for this week:

We'll see if my eyes are bigger than my tummy, or whatever.

{There may be some difficulty in binding the Autumn Jubilee quilt since Miss Pretty-pretty has made it her bed.}

Here's hoping your week goes well and you have many opportunities to give thanks for your many blessings.

ADHD Goal-setting

 No, I've never been diagnosed with ADHD, but it certainly applies to my projects. So, I'm just gonna go with it!

So, yesterday I dropped all other projects, kept body and soul together for me, Lovey, and the animals, and focused on doing some mosaic in the "Hobbit Hole," the egress area we built in 2020. I had hoped to do a bunch over the summer, but was nearly constantly busy with other stuff. When God gave us these two days in row of unseasonally warm weather, I decided it was time to mosaic some more.

I had previously used E6000 glue to attach the plastic letter blocks from an old Upwords game to some tiles to form the small words and then I used cut tiles and a broken Polish pottery plate to form the larger words. It's all still messy, but couldn't be cleaned up till the tiles were more firmly attached to the wall.

I was also able to make some flowers and other garden-related stuff including adding the water drops from the watering can.

It was such a delight to make progress on this neglected project. I hope to do more today.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I also finished the three pumpkins I'd been crocheting {pattern from BrianaKDesigns}. After I had started another set and then discovered that I wouldn't be able to sell them at the craft show because someone else in our shared booth is doing pumpkins, I decided to gift the first set to my friend who's coming to visit tomorrow. I can't wait! 😊

More finishes {see I can finish some things even though I wander off to others}...

...the second quail egg holder,

the fodder-growing system is back up and running for the winter,

Spiced Peach Jam and Cinnamon Jelly are made for the craft show,

and indoor gardening of shoots is started back up.

 So, since I'm gonna let myself lean in to my ADHD project plan {or lack thereof}, I'm not going to set a bunch of goals for the week. Just these...

* Make more mosaic flowers & figure out how to add an old partially broken glass mosaic to the mix. Clean up mortar messes.

* Make apple butter and blueberry jams for craft show

* Work on Scrappy Spools while Tricia is here for a sewing day. Maybe bind the Autumn Jubilee finally.

* Continue crocheting more pumpkins for myself during the evenings and when Lovey gets to monologuing. 😉 

* Read "The Fellowship of the Ring" by JRR Tolkein

* Enjoy autumn!

May your goals be met, but not to the exclusion of a sidetrack or two. 😊